Anaita on styling Hrithik for Krrish 3

By Nousheen Lalani -

November 7, 2013 - 3:34 AM IST

Well known for her designing in Dhoom 2, Being Cyrus, Everybody Says I'm Fine!, Love Aaj Kal and Cocktail, the fashion director for Vogue, Anaita Adajania Shroff, who also did the styling for Dhoom 3, Race 2, and Krrish 3, had a brief chat us.

Here we bring to you the excerpts of the interview...

Anaita on styling Hrithik for Krrish 3

How did Rakesh Roshan rope you in to designing the looks in Krrish 3?
Well actually I've been working with Hrithik for quite a few years, ever since Dhoom 2 and I think when he decided to do Krrish 3, he very sweetly offered it to me and I had a narration and I loved the story and that's how it started so I don't think it was difficult to get me involved.

What was the brief given to you for the three characters of Hrithik?
Well because this film has such a strong history and a heritage that comes along with it, it was about how we could take it forward because if you start with Rohit's character, it's also about how he's grown, now he's much older and we just wanted to maintain the fact that he lives quite a private life. He is not a flamboyant person; he is a soft, sweet old man.

Krishna is young, he is newly married and his style of dressing is very casual, again not there to make a statement, not necessarily trying to set trends or follow trends, sweet simple clothes, whether it's a striped light feather weight cardigan, worn with a t-shirt or a simple shirt and tie. He's very real and very believable as a person, he's not trying to make a spectacle of himself, and he just wants to blend in with the crowd. So yes at the same time he's cool, but it's unknowing, its unintentional, he doesn't try too hard, so it's quite understated.

How diverse was it designing for three different characters at the same time?
Very diverse, The fact that the three roles were played by Hrithik was a marvel, it was like styling three different people, three different actors, the way he plays it, the detail that goes into his preparation, his expressions, his body-language, even the way his body is - in Krishna he's super frugal, rimmed, his hair is flying, and everything is just right, so the challenge was to do something different and to make it real at the same time.

Rakeshji's extreme clarity on what he wanted for each character helped, he was very clear on what Krishna could be or could not be. We as stylists want to experiment but he was like no this is too much, bring the character back to earth, it has to be more real so that also helped a lot. And then you have the superhero Krrish, which of course we have borrowed heavily from his earlier avatars and just changed the detailing subtly, whether its quilting on the shoulders, or the way the waist has been cut. I've made the trousers a little more like sheepish so they are just like loose cargoes and he wears black trainers because he is someone who needs to be agile and then in the film he wears a little bracelet, it's a little doodle on the paper which has now become the emblem for Krrish.

What research went in while styling the characters of Hrithik? And what Color palette and fabrics did you make use of?
The research that went into it is the research I would do for any character, you study people that are similar from all over the world and then you translate that into each character. I also refer a lot to people I know or have met in my life and it just comes subtly in each character. I kept the color palette for Rohit quite earthy, we used off colors, nothing primary and jarring, and you see a sweet little woollen cardigan, he wears slim ties, muted checks shirts, because now he is got with his age. Again his hair is more floppy and combed down. He sometimes wears Andy-Capp hats so I think it's a very warm comfortable look for the character. He wears corduroy pleated trousers, something that normally a younger hero wouldn't wearâ€¦ as a character that was the direction we took with him.

You're not restricted by a fabric when you style a character, we are not selling clothes so like I mentioned that more of corduroy we used for Rohit's trousers or the chunky knitted cardigans. I don't restrict with myself with fabrics.

Did you and Rakesh Roshan disagree on any of the looks at any point?
No, never did I think it was going to be easy. I think for us, it is more of perfecting what we wanted to do, how to get each look right, but once we had that right, there was no issue, it was a great journey. We all worked very hard. Making a superhero film is very tough on the actor and yet somehow we maintained to smile through it all.

Was the superhero costume redesigned in this sequel according to comfort and the action scenes?
Yes I did add a lot of agility whether it was more of a supple shoulder so that the movements were easier. The trousers were drilled so those made it easier to move. But I think more it was about structure and giving his body a form, giving it strength and just grounding the whole look. We were not trying to reinvent Krrish just trying it to keek it a bit.

Which brands did you make use of?
I don't know what brands I used. I'm not someone who follows brands that closely. This film is not about fashion it's more of styling, it's not about the labels he's wearing, and it's not relevant. But if you have to put in a few brands then the character wears Tom Ford spectacles but that's not because they are Tom Ford, he just wears them because the shape was beautiful and retro.

Which is your favorite look of Hrithik in the movie?
It's a tough choice, but right now my favorite is Rohit, I just feel he is someone who I want a warm lovely hug from.

Do you think Hrithik's style in the movie will influence men's street fashion in India?
I don't know as a costume stylist I don't dress my characters to influence the fashion field in the country that's for sure because I'm not a designer I don't sell clothes so it doesn't make a difference to me. For me characters need to be believable and likeable, if they are positive characters, or really disliked if they are negative characters. So the character is key, not whether the people will follow the fashion or not.

How was it different designing for a movie than for a fashion magazine?
There's a vast difference because editorial is more aspirational, its pure fashion, its only about fashion is the focus. When you design for a film the character is the focus so that is the fundamental difference.

Which actor would you love to style that you haven't yet?
I work with everyone. I'm very happy.

How was styling for Krrish 3 different than all your other projects?
Every project is different; I mean it's like saying how it was different to read this book from that book. So I think in that sense I take a very personal approach to my work. For me this was different because this is what I did at a certain point in my life so that's why it's important at that point. I really enjoyed working with Hrithik. I think he is an actor who's extremely dedicated to his class. He also gives us a lot of time for fitting and we're never begging for time. He's very professional, very open to our ideas. It so really is a pleasure working with him and super rewarding.